Hoi An

Nhan’s Kitchen (Bep Nhan) $

Nhan’s Kitchen, a modest suburban, no-frills café, has only been open for a few months so how can it be TripAdvisor’s #1 Restaurant in Hoi An? In fact, it’s been in the Top 5 virtually ever since it opened. How has it had such phenomenal success against 684 cut-throat competitors?

Price

Yes, the pricing is very keen. Consider some of these bargains (prices in VND): Tuna Salad 39,000; Noodles with chicken and vegetables 45,000; stir-fried beef 59,000, Beef Burger 60,000 and grilled red snapper 79,000. Fruit juices are around 20,000 and large bottles of beer go for just 15,000! Little wonder many camp here for half a day.

The Menu

The menu is about 35% pizza and pasta, 30% other Western and 35% Vietnamese. This seems to be a winning formula, it suits groups with different tastes, but it’s not too different from many others.

The Pizzas

In Hoi An it’s common for the cheaper restaurants to have huge pizza sections. These orders are sub-contracted to third parties.

Nhan’s Kitchen make their own however, and they’re surprisingly good; quite possibly the best pizza value-for-money in town. Try the Four Cheeses Pizza on for size at just 80,000 VND!

Fried Wonton

Cao Lau

Personality – The Hosts

But what is it? All this is great but how can a fast food cafe sweep all before it. Why is Nhan’s Kitchen #1 on TA?

A huge factor is that Nhan and his wife Rebecca (Thi) have great English and are customer-service champions. This, more than any thing else is the key to their success.

Orders are taken efficiently (and double checked) and meals are served promptly but somehow, Nhan and Rebecca seem to have all the time in the world to discuss the food, suggest variations and come up with concepts not on the menu. And, while Nhan’s Kitchen is often bursting to capacity at peak times, its genial hosts take it all in their stride rustling up extra tables when they need to.

Everyone is warmly welcomed, warmly farewelled and treated as a friend.

Nhan explaining the menu

The Wash-up: why #1?

Nhan’s Kitchen serves Italian-style food, sandwiches and burgers alongside Vietnamese standards very, very cheaply. Locals eat here alongside tourists and expats. Everything is very fresh and within the cheap-eat genre it’s hard to argue with the #1 rating. To claim it as the best restaurant in Hoi An says more about the vagaries of TA than it does about anything else.

But it’s the super care of every single customer – even free home delivery if you’re in the area – that keeps punters returning again and again. And Nhan and Rebecca are very flexible customizing dishes with aplomb for Vegans and those with allergies or little pet hates. There are hundreds of little touches. If you don’t like the fact that tomato turns up in just about every dish, don’t worry, Nhan will have a solution, even for pizza!

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Linda Létourneau

I had dinner there almost every night, for 2 months, last Spring. I am looking forwards to going back next Spring. Well, Nhan’s Kitchen is also “mine”, since my homestay is across the street. I feel part of the family.